SEAA 6 + 12 Stage RRs: Men 7th, Women 25th
On Sunday 20th March the Southern road 12 stage relays were held at the new venue of the cyclopark in Kent. Dark clouds were overhead through most of the day but, with no rain, the sun breaking through occasionally and it being a very spectator-friendly venue, clubs competed fiercely to show that they had the best team of distance runners in the south.
Long stages were 3 laps = 7.2 kms, short stages were 2 laps = 4.8 kms.
Photos (by Alex Wardle & Darren Southcott)
First out for the team was Tom Phillips. After a week away skiing, only getting back late on Saturday night, this manager was worried that Tom may not have full focus on the race and let the leaders get away early. But Tom's partner, Suzanne Turvey solved this concern as, while Tom was on his pre-race warm up, Suzanne took his bag, which had his number and vest in it, down from where he had left it and to the Woodford camp! With five minutes to go Tom came back to where he had left his stuff to find no one there and his bag gone! But with a quick descent down the hill, Tom found the missing bag and the number, and got to the start line just on time. This excellent pre-race warm up had got the adrenaline going and now Tom was fully switched on, staying in the leading pack (see above) for two laps before giving up a little ground to put the team in 8th place with a fantastic 20.04.
Up next was Durham University man James Stockings (right). 
James' form is such that at the moment he wants to be in the biggest races and the best positions and here he found himself exactly in this position. Looking strong from the outset, he chased down three teams lined up ahead and ran our fastest short leg of the day, 13.10, to put us in 5th. 13.10 was equal 9th fastest short leg of the day, which underlines how well James ran, a really excellent leg for the team.
On the notoriously tricky third leg was Angus Holford. Angus has had three sensationally tough weekends of racing in a row, with the Essex 20 miler two weeks ago and the intercounties race last weekend. And he had prepared well for this race being in Milton Keynes as had organised to see a friend who lived close by, so was slightly miffed when the race was moved, as what he had prepared to make the journey easier now made it longer, as he did not want to disappoint his friend and cancel! But he took all this in his stride and ran a very good leg of 20.50 to bring in the team in 8th place.
Fourth out was Donatas Tumaitis. Donatas had been out of this A team as injury had struck, but with us losing the excellent Birmingham Uni man Bradley Wattleworth, word had got to this manager that the injury had healed well and Donatas was going well in training. And so it proved here, as Donatas set off like a train, and although he suffered a bit on lap two from the fast start, he still ran an excellent 13.58, made even more impressive by the fact he was passed by a flyer from another team, but he didn't let that distract him, so we were now in 9th.
Fifth out was Tom Beedell. After the National CC Tom had said to this manager that if he'd dug in slightly more he could have got higher, to which this manager replied that he was very pleased with Tom's run and that this manager thought he did the best he could. Since these words, which were supposed to be supportive that Tom shouldn't be hard on himself, Tom has proved how right he was however, coming 43rd at the Intercounties and here running our second fastest long leg of the day, missing Tom Phillips' time by mere seconds with 20.06. Next weekend he is doing the Cardiff half so this manager fully expects him to run another very fast time - expect his 71.28 PB to disappear, especially if Mo Farah wears his Newham and Essex Beagle vest, and Tom clicks into Met mode! The team were now in seventh.
Sixth out was Simon Beedell. This manager can write all day on how he is improving all athletes with his words, even if unintentionally, but the real reason for Tom's excellent run of form is no doubt mainly due to his desire to keep his big brother Simon behind him, which these days is no mean feat as Simon is always improving. After running the fastest long leg last year on the B team, Simon backed it up here running 13.54 and then, as we will see, 20 mins later running a long leg for the B team! This kept the team in 7th place.
Out seventh for the team was Daniel Steel. A man in form having set a PB of 71.07 last week at the Bath half marathon, Daniel started the leg with real purpose, but was unfortunate to have a very good Tonbridge man just behind who went past and then had no one else to aim at. But although the Tonbridge man on lap one looked to be moving away, on lap two Daniel held the distance and lap 3 was moving back towards him, all the time both were getting nearer the Bedford athlete in 6th place. So at the end the team was in 8th place and Daniel had run 20.48.
Out eighth was Tony Russell. Tony has recently moved house but there is never a word of complaint from his lips, he only mentioned it as the lifts being organised he could not take advantage of now he was living away from Woodford! He looked strong throughout the two laps - this manager only found out after he finished that this week he was on high mileage, and his time of 14.06 put him only 13sec away from 4 other short legs, all who have finished ahead of him over the cross country this season, which indicates that this was an excellent run from Tony as he is ever nearing the gap on a good group of Woodford athletes ahead. Who knows what he could do with an easy week and not moving house! We remained in 8th place.
Ninth out for the team was Stephan Wenk (left). Having the local Kent man turn out was a massive boost for us as he has been in good form recently and again he showed it here, solo running 20.21 as he used his pace judgement to excellent effect. He had warned of the hill but the excellent mountain man just went up it as if it were a mound. Two years ago Stephan had had Scott Overall and Chris Thompson on his leg and Stephan had joked that this time he would run but the only thing he wanted was not to be on a leg with fliers again, so it was with some consternation that this manager saw Belgrave's Phil Wicks warming up to go just behind Stephan! But Stephan judged the pace beautifully and kept Wicks behind the whole way to keep the team in 8th place.
Tenth out was Harold Wyber. These days Harold sees 4.8k as a mere stride warm up as he goes on an another epic endurance challenge, but it is testament to his ability he has not lost the speed to do such distances very well and here he set off at full pace and seemed not to slow down as he set our third quickest short leg time of 13.53 and kept the pesky Belgrave one place behind us as we stayed in 8th.
Penultimate man out was Matt Gunby. Matt had the unenviable task of trying to keep Belgrave's top man, Nick Goolab, in some sort of order as Belgrave made a desperate surge to try and medal. He did this well fighting to give up as little ground as possible and although we lost a place to Belgrave, Matt was reeling in the teams that had been much further ahead as he finished with an excellent 20.08, and so we were in 9th place.
Anchor man was Daniel Bruynooghe (left). Daniel had brought up his family to the race, but had been stuck at the station as with no baby seat they could not get a taxi the 5k, so with child on back and in arms Daniel and family had walked to the race! This sort of exertion would mean most people would need a sit down, but this just made Daniel even more ready for a 4.8k and this manager knew we had the right man for the anchor leg. Daniel showed his form by passing South London Harriers and Bedford who had been in front of us the entire race, and nearly reeling Belgrave back in as he ran our second fastest short lap of the day, 13.38, with an absolutely blistering finish to make sure no one would overtake him, as Woodford athletes and supporters cheered him on.
This closed the team in 7th, the same result as last season. It was pointed out to this manager that we had lost our two fastest long legs of last season (Martyn Cryer and Ed Shepherd) and two fastest short legs (Andrew Mariani and Matt Shone), so the fact that team had the depth again this season to replicate was absolutely fantastic. Well done to the winners Shaftesbury who are now reaping the rewards of an excellent youth policy - to win back-to-back Southern 12 stage titles is a fantastic achievement.
Starting the B team was Pete Caton. Pete, who delayed going to his parents to celebrate a birthday this weekend, was delighted to have Leg 1 so that he could show on firm ground how his training had been going. He paced the first two laps excellently and made a move on the third lap so that his 22.33 brought the team home in 29th place at the end of Leg 1.
Up next was Gareth Cavell. Gareth has also been looking forward to getting back to racing on the firm ground, and he had even more incentive to go well as his son Harry was on Leg 4, where they would be running in the same team for the first time in Woodford colours! He started conservatively but was kicked into gear when the V45 was passed by a runner who he said looked of a good vintage, but Gareth reeled him back in and ran a very good 14.48 to put the team in 28th position. Would it be enough to beat Harry?
Third out was man the in-form Louis Clark. Louis could well have put in a claim for an A team place on recent form and his run here was excellently paced as he tried to close on the teams ahead. He was slightly inconsolable at the end as he thought that Pete had beaten him for time on Leg 1, but Louis - good news! - you ran 22.19. This manager is sure Louis has already sent Pete a heartfelt email saying how fortunate he was to just pip him on time. The team remained in 28th.
Fourth out was Harry Cavell. Harry will be an U20 next season and so it was great to have him turn out for us here. This manager can dimly remember the first relay he did for his club - the nerves are very different to any other form of racing, and Harry did a tremendous job, starting at the right pace, but the hills took their toll on the second lap so Harry couldn't quite beat his dad's time as he came in with 16.35. The lessons learned, though, will hold Harry in good stead, and this race will help Harry as he steps up to U20's next season. The team were now in 31st.
Leg 5 was Rob Wilbraham. Rob had been recovering from a bug and although he said that he was 85% there, it was still on his lungs so he wasn't entirely sure how he would go. 23.41 was the result and although in full flow Rob would plan to be up with Louis, to only lose a minute and twenty to him was a strong effort and shows that when fully fit Rob won't have far to go to get back up to top speed. He also still made up a place for the team, so now we were in 30th.
Leg 6 was club legend Bertie Powell. He was disappointed not to be in the A team, but with injury threatening he needed a run with less pressure on it. He took the usual Bertie approach to the leg of not easing himself in, but instead deciding to go shoulder to shoulder (or elbow to elbow) with the wonderfully talented Richard Goodman as Richard sped off for the 4th fastest long lap of the day. So having done the first 600m at probably minute quicker mile pace than he should have, Bertie suffered slightly on the second lap but still came in with a very impressive 14.18. The team were now in 29th.
Leg 7 was Simon Beedell. Why this manager ever had any doubt that Simon would do two legs can only be put down to manager's natural pessimism, but if every athlete was made like Simon that condition would not exist at all! So just 20 minutes after finishing his leg, Simon was out again, and ran another tremendous leg, running the fastest B team long leg of the day with 21.49. He has the Cardiff half then the London Marathon in his sights and if all continues well his PB in the marathon (2.34) will be under serious threat. Simon moved the team up another place so they were now in 28th.
Leg 8 was next and it was the final leg for the team. It was great to see the return of Darren Southcott. Darren had injured his back on holiday and then come back and done the Essex CC champs 12k in January. Feeling not great after he had gone to the doctors who said he had fractured a vertebrae in his back!! Two months of no running was needed, and now Darren is doing easy runs to see how he is, the fact that he could do a 15.21 as a controlled run shows the level of fitness he has and, all going well, it will be great to have him back in the A team next season.
The B team finished here in 28th position, just three outside the qualification for the National, showing the standard that was in the team. Due to the length of the laps the day seemed to start and finish very quickly but the venue was excellent for watching on and for what it offered. The team spirit was tremendous as always, with the athletes getting each other going for their legs and the mood around the camp all day was fantastic. The next team race is the last of the season, the National 12 Stage Road Relays at the historic Sutton Park in Birmingham on the 16th of April.